Abstract

The results of investigation of the antiepileptic activity of promising herbal anticonvulsants – Fumaria schleicheri (FSDE) and Ocimum basilicum (OBDE) dry extracts – are presented. The herbal remedies were administered intragastrically in the conditionally effective dose of 100 mg/kg in the therapeutic and preventive mode during 3 days with the last time of 30 minutes before the experiments. As refe­rence drugs sodium valproate and carbamazepine were chosen. Under the conditions of maximal electroshock (MES) test the ability of the chosen dry extracts to prevent the development of primarily generalized convulsions was studied. For the in-depth study of antiepileptic properties of FSDE and OBDE the model of pentylenetetrazole (corasole)-induced kindling has been chosen. In general the researched dry extracts in the condition of the MES test have shown the anticonvulsant effect on the level of sodium valproate, but they were slightly inferior in efficacy compared with carbamazepine. On the model of pentylenetetrazole-induced kindling it has been shown that FSDE unlike OBDE and sodium valproate has the ability to prevent convulsions under the conditions of experimental chronic epileptogenesis. Thus, it has been found that OBDE is able to prevent the development of primary generalized seizures, while FSDE prevents acute paroxysms stimulated by electrical impulse and chronic epileptogenesis.